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Lens Calibration
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Jul 6, 2018 21:32:48   #
Johnoc
 
HI all. New to the hog. Been a follower for a while now. Has anyone ever used a lens calibration kit/system? If so please share your thoughts. Thanks

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Jul 6, 2018 21:56:00   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/search-topic-list?q=lens+calibration&sectnum=0&username=

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Jul 6, 2018 22:20:33   #
Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx
 
If you are getting soft photos with AF, but sharp photos with manual focus in reasonable light, you might want to check your lens AF calibration. The calibration kits like those from Datacolor and LensAlign make it fairly quick and easy, but your camera body must have an AF adjust menu item. On my Nikon bodies its called AF-Fine tune and its under the little wrench icon, but you can make your own test chart and use trial and error to get the setting right. I've done the manual method for prime lenses and it works fine if you have a little time and patience.

Tamron and Sigma both sell docs that allow you to hook some of their newer lenses up to a computer through a USB port. Then you can adjust the lens directly using an app they supply. This is great for zoom lenses where you might want to make adjustments at different distances and zoom factors. If you make the adjustment in your camera body, you can only make one (or two) corrections for a given lens. With Tamron's Tap-In Doc and their 150-600mm G2 zoom you are given a table that allows you to make 18 different adjustments.

I was somewhat disappointed with the Tamron 150-600mm at 600mm first time I used it for birding. I got it to work much better when I used AF then manual override. I ended up building a test chart using a 4ft ruler at a 30 degree angle and a high contrast focus point at 2ft. I found the actual focus was way in front of the focus point. Was able to get it dead on and I really, really like that lens now.

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Jul 6, 2018 22:21:25   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
Can’t add much to Bill’s list except to say that I have found Reikan’s Focal system to be fast, accurate, repeatable, and absolutely worth the price.

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Jul 7, 2018 00:11:31   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
Yes Bill’s advice is good. Sometimes I wonder if DSLRs are really an improvement over SLRs. Autofocus is great when it works. But does anybody remember the split-focus viewfinders on SLRs? They were spot on accurate and fast.

On mirrorless cameras, unlike DSLRs, the auto focusing is done on the sensor, so there is no need for calibration or tweaks for different lenses.

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Jul 7, 2018 05:29:55   #
kdogg Loc: Gallipolis Ferry WV
 
These old eyes sure do miss the split-focus screen for manual focus.
JD750 wrote:
Yes Bill’s advice is good. Sometimes I wonder if DSLRs are really an improvement over SLRs. Autofocus is great when it works. But does anybody remember the split-focus viewfinders on SLRs? They were spot on accurate and fast.

On mirrorless cameras, unlike DSLRs, the auto focusing is done on the sensor, so there is no need for calibration or tweaks for different lenses.

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Jul 7, 2018 08:31:53   #
gwilliams6
 
Loving my switch to mirrorless. No lens calibrations needed as focus is read directly off the image sensor. I feel for you DSLR folks. Best to you adjusting those lenses for each camera, whew !

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Jul 7, 2018 09:11:23   #
NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC
 
JD750 wrote:
Yes Bill’s advice is good. Sometimes I wonder if DSLRs are really an improvement over SLRs. Autofocus is great when it works. But does anybody remember the split-focus viewfinders on SLRs? They were spot on accurate and fast.

On mirrorless cameras, unlike DSLRs, the auto focusing is done on the sensor, so there is no need for calibration or tweaks for different lenses.


Man! Do I miss those. Never a question about being in focus.

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Jul 7, 2018 10:22:56   #
dandev Loc: Enumclaw, WA
 
I use Reikan’s Focal System and highly recommend it. It works much better vs. the ruler method.
You can get it at B&H.

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Jul 7, 2018 11:36:16   #
Bob Boner
 
Another recommendation for Reikan's Focal System.

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Jul 7, 2018 11:45:32   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
JD750 wrote:
...Sometimes I wonder if DSLRs are really an improvement over SLRs. Autofocus is great when it works. But does anybody remember the split-focus viewfinders on SLRs? They were spot on accurate and fast....


Yes, I do remember manual focus systems. I shot with them for 20 years or so.

Used correctly, higher performance autofocus in it's best form is far, FAR faster, more consistent and more accurate than I ever was focusing manually! And I was actually damned good at it! (Shooting a lot of sports.)

I do miss the big bright viewfinders of some of those old cameras (still have many of them in my collection).... but I don't miss manual focus very much!

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Jul 7, 2018 12:50:50   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
Kdog, NorthCarolinia Mtn Man, I miss those screens too. I looked into getting one for my D750. There was a company making a retrofit, but it was expensive, and now they seem to have gone out of business. Ah well. Not all technical progress is forward.

However my Olympus has a feature you can program to a function button, for it to zoom 3x, 5x, 10x your choice, so you can see in the EVF the focus detail. Not as good as the old split focus circle but better than nothing.

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Jul 7, 2018 15:04:05   #
ChristianHJensen
 
You can get several variations of focusing screens if you are so inclined - https://www.focusingscreen.com/index.php?osCsid=4a0ce12e5d0c569b954feba5c6d6ed21

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Jul 7, 2018 15:27:33   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
ChristianHJensen wrote:
You can get several variations of focusing screens if you are so inclined - https://www.focusingscreen.com/index.php?osCsid=4a0ce12e5d0c569b954feba5c6d6ed21


Thanks! That is the company that was selling them and then collapsed. They must have gotten some new capital. The prices are much more reasonable now!

The shipping cost looks scary it's NT$450 but that's only $14.78 USD. Now I am gong to be trying one of those out.

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Jul 7, 2018 19:45:27   #
MauiMoto Loc: Hawaii
 
JD750 wrote:
Thanks! That is the company that was selling them and then collapsed. They must have gotten some new capital. The prices are much more reasonable now!

The shipping cost looks scary it's NT$450 but that's only $14.78 USD. Now I am gong to be trying one of those out.


The $2300 looks even scarier.
There are 5 choices for the same price. For my camera.
Does any have a suggestion for tired aging eyeballs?
I think I narrowed it down to two. Either the EC-L cross split image, precision matte, Canon type or the K3 split image micro prism, hexagon matte, Nikon type. I excluded the EC-B split image, precision matte, Canon type, only because I have a Nikon and I don't know the difference between precision matte and hexagon matte. So maybe my choice should be between the EC-B and the EC-L, split or cross.
Anyone?

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